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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590955">happy graduation, tobio.</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnaboutcafe/pseuds/turnaboutcafe'>turnaboutcafe</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Crying, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Graduation, Hurt, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, M/M, Men Crying, Mild Hurt/Comfort, POV Kageyama Tobio, Third Year Hinata Shouyou, Third Year Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio, Third Year Kageyama Tobio, Third Year Tsukishima Kei, Third Year Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 05:02:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,337</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25590955</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/turnaboutcafe/pseuds/turnaboutcafe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>He clutches his knees, keeping it to his chest, and cries until he can’t anymore. He cries until the tears are gone, yet the scar in his chest continued to throb. He cried until he found nothing to cry for, until his eyes were red and oozing as swollen.</i>
</p>
<p>  <i>And so, he continues to cry.</i></p>
<p>  <i>“Happy…” he choked through trembling lips, the only witness to his whispers the silence. “Happy graduation, Tobio.”</i><br/></p>
<hr/>
<p><br/>Because Tobio's third years are a parallel of tears and happiness.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou &amp; Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio &amp; Kindaichi Yuutarou &amp; Kunimi Akira, Kindaichi Yuutarou &amp; Kunimi Akira, Kindaichi Yuutarou/Kunimi Akira, Sawamura Daichi &amp; Sugawara Koushi, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi, Yachi Hitoka &amp; Yamaguchi Tadashi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>292</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>happy graduation, tobio.</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“What time is the graduation ceremony, Tobio?”</p>
<p>“Nine.”</p>
<p>Tobio’s answer was a curt reply as he stared out of the window of their rarely used car, his dad at the wheel and his mother busy chattering away about how excited she was to see her son graduate junior high, to no one in particular. Miwa sat next to him, earphones plugged into her ear as she moved to the beat of some weird boy band she was obsessed with, the volume of the music soft enough for her to still hear the excited murmurings of his mother as they drew nearer and nearer to the school.</p>
<p>“He’s only graduating junior high,” she pointed out, taking one earbud out of her ear, the disgustingly auto tuned pop song flowing from it as she did. “It’s not like he won an award from the government or anything; I think you’re overexaggerating.”</p>
<p>“Junior high, college or highschool, it’s still a graduation,” she insisted. “Tobio, are Kindaichi and Kunimi already there?”</p>
<p>Tobio clicked his phone open, pretending to check it as he gazed for several moments at the empty screen devoid of notifications or text messages, dragging his eyes across it as he pretended to analyze text on the screen.</p>
<p>“They’re already in the classroom taking their gowns.”</p>
<p>Miwa looked over to him, glancing at his screen for a moment before stuffing the arbud back into where it had been previously. As her eyes shifted at the sight of the empty phone screen, Tobio tensed. But, if she knew that he had been faking his response, she showed no sign of it.</p>
<p>“We’re almost here!” his mother announced, hurriedly ushering them as the school gates began to come into sight. “You can’t be late Tobio, we have to walk you—”</p>
<p>“I’ll be fine on my own,” Tobio replied quickly, wincing at how quickly his words came out. More than anything, he didn’t want his family to walk in on a… situation. A situation involving Kindaichi, Kunimi, and the graduating volleyball team.</p>
<p>“But—”</p>
<p>“Leave him,” Miwa replied, voice harsh despite Tobio’s gratefulness at her backing him up. “He’s not a child, let him go on his own.”</p>
<p>His mother looked at him for several moments, before her eyes eased into relentment. “Alright. We’ll be at the ceremony hall; don’t be late!”</p>
<p>Tobio nodded. “Thank you for driving me.”</p>
<p>Without waiting for another word from his parents, he grabbed his bag from where it had been placed neatly on his feet, fleeing into the school grounds before his mother changed her mind about sending him into the building.</p>
<p>As he ran into the Kitagawa Daiichi First campus, no nostalgia struck him. Despite the grand exterior of the school he had spent three years of his life practically living in him, no form of attachment bubbled in him as he entered the school gates one last time, no sense of fondness shining in his heart. IN contrast, as he streaked past students from the graduating class, he noticed them sitting by trees, several of them crying as they hugged their friends, fondness shining in their eyes as they stared at the campus, as if longing to stay there forever.</p>
<p>Tobio thought none of that as he found himself in the campus, panting from his sprint across the courtyard.</p>
<p>Slowly, he climbed his way up the stairs, legs heavier than usual from the weight of his backpack. People were beginning to flit through the hallways, several dressed in graduation gowns, others talking excitedly to their seniors who would be graduating soon. Tobio paid no mind, quickly finding his way to his classroom, the path to the room he had spent 8 hours daily during the school year practically ingrained into his mind, footsteps sure as he made his way there.</p>
<p>He slowly pushed open the door, immediately met with the loud buzzing of his classmates as they walked around the room, taking graduation gowns from racks and fitting hats onto their heads. Friends helped each other into their long outfits, helping them zip up the back and fasten on the tight fitting blue graduation caps, the warmth of it all sugar sweet. To Tobio, almost too sweet.</p>
<p>As he walked towards the rack he had placed his graduation gown on the previous day, another group of people bustled into the room, greeted with loud cheers as they arrived. At the front of the group, Kunimi and Kindaichi greeted their friends from around the room, pulling them into group hugs, as if it was the last day on earth. The entire volleyball team, from their first years to the third years that would be graduating alongside them, flanked Kunimi and Kindaichi, close as ever. They were almost like a tight knit wolf pack, warmth radiating from them as they laughed and hugged, no sense of animosity between them.</p>
<p>Tobio grabbed his own gown off the rack, quickly pulling the outfit over his head and pushing his hat onto his head. If anything, it looked nothing like the carefully adjusted outfits the others were wearing, who had been helped by friends to perfect their wear, but Tobio could do nothing about it; no one was there to adjust anything for him.</p>
<p>As he finished fitting on his attire, Kindaichi and Kunimi’s group began to approach, checking out their graduation gowns in glee as their friends helped them smooth out the creases, angling their caps perfectly to fit on their heads.</p>
<p>Tobio swallowed, approaching Kunimi and Kindaichi. “Hey.”</p>
<p>At his words, as if he had said something offensive towards them, Kindaichi tensed, looking at him. “Hey. What are you doing here?”</p>
<p>“I’m… getting my gown,” Tobio replied, confusion simmering in him. “The teacher told us—”</p>
<p>“We would’ve expected for you to have been in the ceremony hall already,” Kindaichi butted in, gesturing to the crumpled piece of paper poking out of the backpack he was holding in his hands. “King of the court gets to do the end of year speech for us this year, huh?”</p>
<p>At the four words, Tobio froze.</p>
<p>Kunimi stood next to Kindaichi, eyes hardened as he looked at Tobio. “Good luck with your speech, king.”</p>
<p>And yet, all Tobio could feel was his heart squeezing.</p>
<p>Kageyama gripped his bag, whispering a broken goodbye as he fled the room, bag gripped tightly in his hands, crinkling the paper that was poking out of it. He ran. He ran past the hallways, ran past girls crying as they clutched their best friends, ran past the basketball team taking a final commemorative picture. He ran, kept running until he was away from the hallway of classes, bag in hand, feet a flurry as he carried himself desperately through the hallways. At the corner he turned, he found himself looking at more people. Friends hugging, teammates slapping each other on the back. He ran.</p>
<p>Away from everything that he couldn’t have.</p>
<p>“Tobio, are you here already?”</p>
<p>Tobio looked up, sweating profusely as he stood up from his squatted, panting state to observe the room. It was cold, chilly, with lines of perfectly rowed up chairs throughout the hall, the floor polished and gleaming.</p>
<p>The ceremony hall.</p>
<p>“I…” Tobio murmured, looking up at the owner of the voice. His form teacher.</p>
<p>“I thought you were probably going to take some pictures with your volleyball team!” she laughed, patting him on the back. “But I guess I never took you as the person for emotional commemorative photos.”</p>
<p>“I…” Tobio gasped, lungs still burning. At her words, his eyes began to blur. “Yeah. Not the type for pictures.”</p>
<p>And despite her nod of acknowledgement, his heart burned in pain.</p>
<p>
  <i>Not the type for pictures.</i>
</p>
<p>He stumbled into a plastic chair, quickly wiping at his eyes, face red from the scratchiness of the gown rubbing against his face. As he sat, head empty, parents began to enter the hall, chattering loudly amongst themselves as they pointed towards the seats. But, as Tobio sat, heaving, eyes burned on the back of his head, gazes on him as he sat. As he looked up, silent judgement began to shoot towards him, eyes questioning as they watched him sit alone, not a soul around him. They watched as he simply existed, no one around him to clap his back, not a single person to hug him and tell him that he would miss him when he graduated. Not a single person to tell him to text back often when they left for different highschools.</p>
<p>Not a single person to call his friend.</p>
<p>“That’s him,” a tiny girl whispered. “<i>The king of the court.</i>”</p>
<p>
  <i>The… king?</i>
</p>
<p>Her words reverberated. “The… king… of… the… court.”</p>
<p>And then he found himself at the final match of the inter-high preliminaries. He saw himself screaming, shouting at his teammates as he tossed the ball in the air too fast, too rapidly, too high, too—</p>
<p>
  <i>”Why can’t you move faster?!”</i>
</p>
<p>The ball slipping from his fingers, flying into the air. His teammates running, jumping, reaching for the sky as his ball shot through the air, dancing, spinning, flying, soaring—</p>
<p>And a thud.</p>
<p>
  <i>”You have you move faster! Faster, quicker, more precisely, more accurately!”</i>
</p>
<p>The sound of the referee’s whistle as it announced the end of the game.</p>
<p>Kitagawa Daiichi, losers. 25 to 18.</p>
<p>
  <i>”Why can’t you keep up with me?!”</i>
</p>
<p>His last yell as he stared at his teammates, red seeping into his vision. But, as he saw them, they simply stared back at him, contempt glazed in their eyes as they looked at him.</p>
<p>A chasm. A chasm so far between them. It ripped them apart, pulled him away.</p>
<p>And the only thing left between them was a gaping hole.</p>
<p>“Everyone, please get into line!”</p>
<p>His hands were over his ears. His teacher stood in front of him, back faced towards him as she directed the incoming students into lines, loud chattering between them. Tobio stood with shaky legs, quietly slipping into his assigned position within the line. His teacher said nothing to him as she continued to shush his classmates around him, who were chattering loudly at the excitement of graduation. They were bright, sparkly eyed, amusement dancing through their faces as the teachers attempted in desperation to keep them quiet, only to continue in hushed whispers the moment the teacher moved her attention away from them.</p>
<p>Tobio stood alone in the crowd of laughing students, alone.</p>
<p>“We’ll be entering the ceremony hall soon!” the teacher called out. “Please get your friends to fix your caps for you, and to make sure that they’re put on correctly!”</p>
<p>Everyone turned to their friends, talking excitedly as they reached out to fix the other’s cap.</p>
<p>Tobio twisted towards his reflection on the floor tile, and fixed his hat himself.</p>
<p>“Everyone, please stand up. Please sit only on your assigned seat!”</p>
<p>Tobio stood up, limbs stiff as he steadied himself. He walked slowly into the entrance ceremony, at an identical pace to everyone else as he slowly found his seat. As his classmates sat, they immediately twisted to talk to their friends from across several rows. sAs Tobio sat, he made no move. He simply sat, clasped his fingers together, and pressed half moon shapes into the palm of his hand.</p>
<p>The speech made by the head of the school passed with a blur. No one was paying attention as he spoke, playing with the tassels attached onto the caps of their friends’ heads instead. Tobio did nothing of the sort. He simply sat where he had been told to sit, making no move to see anyone else.</p>
<p>After all, there was no one to see.</p>
<p>“And now, to the awarding of the diplomas to our hardworking students!”</p>
<p>He watched as students walked up on stage. Staring from the top of the alphabet, making its way down. As each of the students lined up to receive their diplomas, their friends clapped loudly for them. Their family members clapped loudly for them. From where they sat, the students who’d already obtained their diplomas cheered, sending thumbs up signs to their friends on stage, not the slightest bit of enthusiasm spared as they congratulated their friend on stage.</p>
<p>Tobio stood up to stand in line. In front of him, ten other students were already waiting, walking up the stage one by one to receive their diplomas. The clapping had not ceased. The enthusiasm had not waned. They were still clapping and shouting, the members of their sports teams cheering and clapping for them, even their juniors smiling.</p>
<p>
  <i>Will they clap like that for me?</i>
</p>
<p>Tobio opened his eyes. Seven more people were left in front of him. The clapping was beginning to burn his ears.</p>
<p>
  <i>Will they cheer for me?</i>
</p>
<p>Five more people. He was several meters from the stage, fingernails gripping his palm as he bit his lip, feigning tranquility as he stepped closer to the stage.</p>
<p>
  <i>Will they be happy for me?</i>
</p>
<p>Two students left. Tobio stepped even closer to the stage. The cheers were beginning to grow louder with each passing student, ringing in his ears.</p>
<p>
  <i>Will they—</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Accept… me?</i>
</p>
<p>“Kageyama Tobio.”</p>
<p>
  <i>Will they…</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Support me?</i>
</p>
<p>Tobio walked on stage. As he did, he braced. He braced, limbs stiff as he walked on the stage. He shut his eyes as he walked the stage in silence, not a single clap from the crowd. His breath was shaky, coming out in silent gasps as he walked towards the head of the school, fingers trembling as he extended his hand to accept his diploma. He stood next to the head teacher in complete silence on trembling legs as he watched the official photographer take his photograph. One click, one flash. No one else came to take his picture, not like all the parents had to the other students. The crowd simply sat, watching as he stepped off the stage, trembling, tears edging his vision as he held his breath, biting his lips as they quivered.</p>
<p>
  <i>Don’t… don’t… don’t…!</i>
</p>
<p>“Kageyama, please stay back,” a teacher called, hand on his shoulder. “You still need to be on standby for the—”</p>
<p>The rest of his teacher’s words were lost to him as he nodded, devoid of emotion as he crumpled into the backstage, a heap on the floor. His classmates passed, paying no mind to him as they walked on stage to receive their certificates. They received claps. They received smiles. They received more than one fucking photographer to take their photos. They were accepted, smiled at by parents and classmates alike as they walked the stage, brandishing their proudly earned diplomas, as if it was a trophy.</p>
<p>He hugged his knees, uncaring as the gown pinched his sides, head rested on the bony cap of his knee. He heaved, dry sighs as no one paid any mind to him, fingers trembling as it gripped the fabric of his graduation gown, choked sobs releasing from him.</p>
<p>“Kageyama.”</p>
<p>It was the same teacher.</p>
<p>“Please stand up, you have to do your speech.”</p>
<p>So Tobio stood. He stood on shaking knees as he pushed the curtains to the stage away from his shaking figure. He stepped on the podium, hands rested on the cool wood as he extracted a crumpled speech from his pocket, adjusting the microphone to his lips. He stood, stood in front of everyone, heart pounding, weight on his chest growing heavier. He stared at the soulless faces of the people in the crowd. Students, teachers, parents. They stared at him, stared at him with the same soulless eyes, piercing into him.</p>
<p>“My…” he began. “My name is Kageyama Tobio. And—”</p>
<p>He stared at the crowd. Eyes pierced him as he continued to stare at them, dark eyes settling on his own. As he gripped the edge of the podium, limbs shaking, eyes glassy, they began to speak.</p>
<p>
  <i>”Kageyama Tobio, the king of the court?”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>”They shouldn’t have put him there.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>”He can’t do anything.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>”He can’t set, he can’t do anything.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>”Kageyama Tobio; he’s</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>U s e</i><br/>
<i>l e s</i><br/>
<i>s.”</i>
</p>
<p>He stared at them.</p>
<p>They stared back.</p>
<p>“I…” he whispered, fingers seizing. “I… I’m…”</p>
<p>
  <i>”I’m so sorry.”</i>
</p>
<p>And the last thing he could hear before his senses blanked was the ringing feedback of the microphone.</p>
<p>So, he ran. Tobio ran as fast as he could. He ran, away from the gazes as he slipped through the heavily guarded exit doors of the ceremony hall. He ran away from the piercing glares, the comments shot at him as he carried himself far. Farther, farther, <i>farther</i>. He ran until his legs burned, until his thighs split. But, he didn’t stop. He didn’t stop as the voices continued to ring inside his head, following him as he continued to yell, hands on his ears, eyes stinging from tears.</p>
<p>
  <i>”He’s  u s e l e s s.”</i>
</p>
<p>And he collapsed.</p>
<p>Tobio collapsed on the polished floors of the gymnasium, in the corner of the room, wrecked by sobs. He hugged his knees, salty tears running down his face as he sat, disheveled in the corner of the gymnasium. He sat, rubbing the tears away with harsh swipes, only for more of them to come. He sat, mind wrecked by the voices of demons, the words reverberating in his mind as he continued to sit there, alone, not even the sunlight flitting through the locked doors there to meet him.</p>
<p>He clutches his knees, keeping it to his chest, and cries until he can’t anymore. He cries until the tears are gone, yet the scar in his chest continued to throb. He cried until he found nothing to cry for, until his eyes were red and oozing as swollen.</p>
<p>And so, he continues to cry.</p>
<p>“Happy…” he choked through trembling lips, the only witness to his whispers the silence. “Happy graduation, Tobio.”<br/>
<br/>
</p><hr/>
<p><br/>
<br/>
Tobio sighed as he entered the Karasuno school gates. As he entered, he desperately pushed out the thoughts of <i>this is the last time</i> from his mind, desperately keeping the calm facade up on his face. His parents, for lack of scrutiny, hadn’t noticed the way he sniffed as they dropped him off at the front of his school building for the last time, or the way his clutch on his bag was especially tight. Miwa spared him a glance, but even if she had noticed anything, she didn’t say anything.</p>
<p>Slowly, he climbed the stairs to his classroom on the third floor, sending polite smiles to his classmates as he made his way towards the class. Akane from his Japanese class smiled at him, Sakura from his biology class congratulating him on his graduation, Sayaka from his compulsory art class sending him a cheery look. His underclassmen, still clad in the volleyball attire they had used for their morning practice, clapped him on the back, cheerily shouting out their congratulations on completing school, scampering off as soon as a teacher rounded the corner to call them for class. As they did, Tobio’s heart began to pull towards them, throbbing as he walked further and further down the halls of the Karasuno campus, the pull on his chest unyielding.</p>
<p>Finally, he found himself in front of a closed classroom door. As his eyes checked the plate on the front of the classroom, despite knowing fully well which classroom it was, he gripped the straps of his bag tighter.</p>
<p>
  <i>The last time, huh?</i>
</p>
<p>He pulled open the door.</p>
<p>Only to be tackled by a laughing ball of sunshine.</p>
<p>“Yamayama-kun, you’re late!” Hinata cheered, tackling him off his feet. Immediately, they were on the ground, quickly locked into a tussle.</p>
<p>“Don’t kick my face, dumbass!” Tobio argued, shoving Hinata’s foot away from his face. Despite Hinata having him in a headlock, Tobio took advantage of his larger frame, pushing the smaller boy off as he scrambled to a standing position, eyes staring at Hinata as if he was a predator, guard up.</p>
<p>“And that makes it 203 wins for me since the start of first year!” Hinata laughed. “I can’t believe you’re late for our graduation, Yamayama-kun!”</p>
<p>“I’m not <i>late</i>,” Tobio pointed out, brushing off the dust from his uniform. “You’re just <i>early</i>.”</p>
<p>“Am not!”</p>
<p>“You two are too loud,” comes a cutting voice from behind him, the doors of the classroom sliding open. At the new, familiar voice, Tobio turns around. Immediately, he is met with the sight of Tsukishima, clad in the black graduation gowns they had been assigned. From behind him, Yamaguchi was adjusting his own hat, messing around with the pesky tassel that wouldn’t stay still.</p>
<p>“We’re not!” Hinata protested, launching himself at the blond. Without hesitation, Tsukishima dodged, sending Hinata flying out towards the hallway instead.</p>
<p>Tobio nodded in greeting to the two of them, moving to the rack of graduation gowns to find the one that had been assigned to him. Tsukishima was behind him, rustling through the collection of hats in an attempt to find one that fit him, before he began to tsk.</p>
<p>“What are you making that sound for?” Tobio demanded, turning around to look at him. Before he could react, Tsukishima extracted a piece of paper sticking out of his bag, smoothing out the crumpled lines as he squinted to read it. Upon seeing the familiar piece of paper, Tobio yelped in protest, jumping to grab it from the taller’s hand. Without hesitation, Tsukishima held it up in the air, just out of Tobio’s reach; despite being only ten centimeters shorter, Tsukishima’s arms were considerably longer.</p>
<p>“Is his highness doing the speech for today?” Tsukishima laughed, angling his chin up to read the paper as he held it up in the air. “Impressive, did the school ask you to because you got scouted for the Adlers?”</p>
<p>“Give it back!” Tobio demanded, finally able to kick Tsukishima in the shin and grab the paper from his hands in his momentary jolt of pain.</p>
<p>“You’re doing the speech today, Kageyama?” Hinata asked, finally re-entering the room after his crash outside. “You didn’t tell me!”</p>
<p>“Y-Yeah,” Tobio admitted, hesitation lacing his words.</p>
<p>“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hinata asked. “I could’ve helped you write it!”</p>
<p>At Hinata’s words, Tobio’s fingers tightened around the crumpled paper. Suddenly, he found himself at Kitagawa Daiichi, standing at the podium as he stared at a faceless crowd. He could hear them, <i>hear</i> them as he stood there, trembling as he stared at them, lips parted, but not a word escaping them.</p>
<p>
  <i>The great king.</i>
</p>
<p>“Hey, Kageyama, are you okay?” Hinata asked. </p>
<p>His voice brought him back.</p>
<p>“Yeah, I’m… fine,” Tobio nodded. “Just fine.”</p>
<p>“Lame,” Tsukishima jibed, laughing. “I can’t imagine having to do a speech like—”</p>
<p>“Tsukki, aren’t you going to do the valedictorian speech this year?” Yamaguchi asked, question all innocence and confusion.</p>
<p>Tsukishima frowned. “Shut up, Yamaguchi.”</p>
<p>“Sorry, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi laughed, letting out a sheepish smile. “Didn’t realize.”</p>
<p>As Yamaguchi laughed off his blunder, a head poked in through the door, a familiar head of blonde hair greeting them. Immediately, Hinata was waving wildly.</p>
<p>“Hey guys!” Yachi smiled, walking into the room. Like Yamaguchi and Tsukishima, she already had the graduation attire on. “You should probably start going up, the teachers want us up in 15 minutes!”</p>
<p>“Thanks, Yachi,” Tobio nodded. “We’ll be up soon.”</p>
<p>“Don’t forget to put on your graduation gown first!” she reminded, before she left the room, her too long gown dragging behind her.</p>
<p>Tsukishima and Yamaguchi quickly left after that. Tobio, still faced with the task of getting his graduation gown on, lingered behind, Hinata next to him as he attempted to find a hat that would fit his head without squeezing on his skull too much. Tobio, on the other hand, was sorting through the gowns, trying to find the one that belonged to him.</p>
<p>Finally, he took the appropriate gown out with a flourish, pulling the outfit off the hanger and over his head. The gown took some adjusting before it looked passable, Hinata still rummaging through the sea of hats as he tried to right the fit of his outfit.</p>
<p>“You need a hat too,” Hinata pointed out.</p>
<p>“I know that, dumbass.”</p>
<p>Without a word, a hat came flying at him, nearly socking him in the face. But, likely thanks to the years of volleyball practice he’d gone through, he caught the hat despite his surprise, gripping the edges of it tightly.</p>
<p>“You didn’t have to throw it at me!” Tobio protested indignantly, pulling it atop his head despite his complaints.</p>
<p>“It was faster, <i>your highness</i>,” Hinata teased.</p>
<p>For some reason, the words didn’t even hurt; they only amused him.</p>
<p>“You’re putting the hat on wrong!” Hinata protested, pulling up a plastic chair next to him. “Stay still, I’m going to fix it.”</p>
<p>For several long moments Hinata, atop the chair, adjusted Tobio’s hat, pulling the constricting material over his hair as smoothing out the fabric. He gently placed the tassel on the correct side of the hat, twisting around the angle to ensure that it was just right. As he did so, Tobio said nothing, simply existing as Hinata gently adjusted the cap on his head, ministrations gentle as he gently perfected it.</p>
<p>
  <i>Is this what it feels like?</i>
</p>
<p>“All done!” Hinata announced, jumping off the chair, his own tassel flying. “It’s all good, Kageyama!”</p>
<p>At his smile, Tobio smiled back.</p>
<p>
  <i>Is this what it’s like,<i> he whispered, the only witness to his words his mind, <i>to… graduate?</i></i></i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Come on, we’re going to be late!” Hinata complained, dragging him by the wrist to the door. As they finally found their way in the hallway, empty from the lack of students, they stared at the direction of the stairs. Neither moved a muscle as they looked at the path they were meant to cross, focuses laser sharp as they stared ahead, their breaths silent.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And without warning, in their true fashion, they ran.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i><i>So this,</i> Tobio reflected, biting his lips as his eyes pricked with tears, <i>is our last race.</i></i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And soon, they found themselves in the line of graduating students, panting from the exhilaration of their race. In silent bouts of laughter, they stood next to each other, adjusting their loosened caps as they tried to surreptitiously blend in with the other students, avoiding eye contact with the teacher who had been looking at them weirdly ever since they slipped into line.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>At the graduation ceremony, they were seated several rows from each other, Tobio surrounded by students he wasn’t familiar with. He sat in his seat, trying to keep his mind occupied as the principal droned on and on about the different things the graduating class had accomplished (half of which Tobio weren’t even sure were true). Despite this, something nagged at him to cast a glance at Hinata, the only person he knew amongst the throng of unfamiliar students, to get some form of entertainment.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Clearly, Hinata thought the same way.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>In moments, they were shooting ugly faces at each other, some sort of unspoken communication between them, as if the faces themselves could portray the insults they wanted to say at each other. It amused Tobio to no end as he managed to goad Hinata into pulling a ridiculously ugly face with the skin under his eye pulled down with a finger, tongue sticking out as if to mock him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And before Tobio could stare at him and commit the face to memory for a blackmailing scheme he was beginning to cook up, he felt the blow of a soft hit on the back of his head.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Pay attention to the ceremony, Kageyama-kun!” his form teacher chastised, shooting him a dirty glance. At her scolding, Tobio murmured a half hearted apology, immediately turning to check if a teacher had approached Hinata. To his amusement (and slight pleasure), the orange head’s burning cheeks made it evident that he had been scolded equally as harshly.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“And now, we proceed to the diploma presentation.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The words flowed through Tobio’s ears like nothing, not even processing in his head. He was beginning to shoot ugly faces at Hinata again, the shorter male quickly shooting back even ruder faces of his own. It took all of Tobio’s willpower not to laugh as Hinata pulled a face resembling an ogre, opting to bury his face in his hands instead to prevent the amusement from slipping out of him in choked laughter.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Row 3, please stand up,” the teacher called, ushering the students to one side of the stage.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Now, Hinata was pulling at the sides of his lips, resembling some sort of weird yokai he’d been plagued with dreams of when he was a kid.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Row 5.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Tobio shot a face back, crossing his eyes and making his hair stand up—</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Row 10!”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>At the words of his teacher, he tensed. The people around him were beginning to stand up, prompting him to jolt out of his seat, following the row of students as they walked towards the side of the stage, in line to begin the diploma receival. As he stood there, fingers gripping each other as his hands knitted together into a ball, he froze.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And again, he was at Kitagawa Daiichi, walking the stage.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He was at Kitagawa Daiichi, receiving his diploma. He was there, stared at by the faceless crowd as he trembled, silence the only thing meeting him. And again, the single photographer walked up towards him, a single flash capturing the silence, a patter of footsteps as he ran away from the stage, collapsing in choked sobs as he hugged his knees to his chest.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And again, and again.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Again, he found himself at Kitagawa Daiichi.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Kageyama?” a voice murmured. Hinata looked at him. His fingers gently brushed against Tobio’s, slight warmth emanating from them.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“What are you doing here, dumbass?” Tobio managed. He cursed at himself. His voice was tight, lips trembling.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Preventing you from shaking,” he murmured. Silently, he unlaced Tobio’s fingers from themselves, gently brushing his own fingers against his instead. “Are you okay?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Tobio trembled, lips quivering. “I’m fine. Go back to your place in line.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And, as Hinata nodded, Tobio paused. For the slightest moment, warm fingers interlaced his own, basking his trembling fingers in warmth. For the slightest moment, Tobio stopped shaking. But before he could take the slightest moment and keep it forever, the warmth escaped him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“I have to go back,” Hinata murmured. “Don’t be scared, Yamayama-kun.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“No one ever said I was scared,” Tobio managed.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He doesn’t miss the silent, understanding softness in Hinata’s eyes as he turns around to return to his spot in line.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Kageyama Tobio, class 3-4!” the principal called out.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Tobio looked up front. No one was in front of him anymore.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i><i>Breathe,</i> he screamed, trembling. <i>Breathe, breathe, breathe. Breathebreathebreathebreathe—</i></i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>But as he stepped up on stage, the light met him as the audience broke into applause.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Kageyama-kun!” an excited cheer came from the crowd. The claps were deafening as he approached the principal to receive his diploma, the tassel atop his hat gently moved to the opposite side. As he held his diploma up, basking under the brightness of the auditorium lights, it came. Like rolling waves, thunderous applause met him, shouts from the crowd coming at him as he stood there, watching as several cameras flashed at him. He recognized the familiar logo of Volleyball Monthly’s photographers among the crowd, giving him thumbs up signals as he posed for the photos. From the crowd, he caught sight of Hinata, Yachi, Yamaguchi and Tsukishima looking up at him, clapping at their own paces at him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And as he scanned the crowd, in an attempt to find his parents, he saw <i>them</i>.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>In the crowd, a familiar group of tall-ish males looked up at him, pride written all over their faces. They looked much different from when they’d graduated two years prior, but even the briefest glance was enough for Tobio to recognize them in the crowd.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Standing in the sea of standing ovators was Daichi, Sugawara and Asahi, clapping loudly as they watched him graduate with pride.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>When he finds his way back to his seat, he finds himself almost immediately swarmed by reporters from Volleyball Monthly. But, to his relief, his teacher escorts him away, keeping him separated from the enthusiastic reporters. As he sits down, he receives claps on the back from people he didn’t even know, congratulations rising from the crowd of students beside him, ones that he’d seen in his volleyball matches amongst Karasuno’s supporters before.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He sits in time to watch Hinata walk the stage, all prideful and tall confidence despite his small stature. He watches as his friend walks across the stage, receive his diploma, and look across the crowd. For a moment, his eyes catch on Suga, Daichi and Asahi, but his gaze continues to move, before finally resting. Hinata’s gaze rests on him, eyes fiery and bright as he gives Tobio his classic Cheshire grin, and beams.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Tobio’s heart flutters, and he beams back.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>As Tsukishima, Yamaguchi and Yachi walk the stage, his heart swells in pride. Even as Tsukishima looks at him with his all arrogant gaze, he smiles at him, chest clenched.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And finally, as the applause dies and the graduated students make their way to their respective seats, Tobio walks the stage one last time, and rests himself behind the podium. He looks up with trembling fingers, speech wrinkled even further than they already were. He stares at the crowd of people with faces he recognized, faces of people who were smiling at him. </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>So he takes a deep breath.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Good morning, everyone,” he says, not a shake in his words. “If you do not know me, my name is Kageyama Tobio, and on this eventful day, I was tasked with making what I believe is one of the few most important speeches of my life.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>As he spoke, his anxiety flew from him, replaced by confidence as he watched the crowd. They stared at him, hanging onto his every word that left his lips, eyes wide as he continued, as if capturing every word he was saying, committing it to memory, where it would stay forever.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>As Tobio did his speech, he didn’t find himself at Kitagawa Daiichi. He didn’t find himself running off the stage, collapsing on the ground in heaves of tears. He found himself behind the podium, watching the crowd of faces he had seen hundreds of times in his three years at the school.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He found himself smiling.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>His speech was met with applause. It was applause louder than Tobio had ever heard, applause that deafened his ears, reaching even the tallest parts of the ceremony hall. It didn’t cease, even as Tobio spent several more seconds basking in the glory of applause, even as he walked off the stage and sat back in his seat. </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>As the ceremony came to a close, he found himself huddled with Hinata, Yamaguchi, Yachi and Tsukishima (despite his reluctance), Hinata already herding them out of the door to the graduation banquet in the opposite room. Tobio laughed as Hinata pushed Tsukishima out of the hall against his will, even ignoring the protests of Akiteru as he tried to pull his younger brother for several pictures. To Tobio’s amusement, Akiteru’s appearance only seemed to make Tsukishima follow Hinata’s urges towards the banquet hall more closely.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Fancy seeing you two here.”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>At those words, Tobio looked up. As he did, he was immediately met with a familiar, older smiling face.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It looked identical to the smile he thought he’d seen last at a graduation ceremony, two long years ago.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Daichi-san, Suga-san, Asahi-san!” Hinata enthused loudly, jumping up and down. The three caught him as he launched himself at them, wrapping him in a hug.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Several moments into the hug, Daichi looked up, a glint in his eyes as he glanced at the other first years. “Aren’t you going to join in?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>By Hinata’s pleads or by will, Tobio found himself moving towards them, wrapping the four in his arms. Yachi and Yamaguchi let out a laugh, engulfing the group in their own arms, Tsukishima last to join the group.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“You’re really going to have a sappy reunion without us?”</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>It was a familiar, screeching voice. As Tobio looked up, he recognized the owner of said voice immediately.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“And here we go!” Nishinoya added on, his own cheers compounding Tanaka’s already excruciatingly loud ones. With an ‘oof’ as the wind was knocked out of his lungs, the two piled onto them, pulling them into an even tighter hug.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>The warmth around Tobio was dizzying. Around him, he could feel the laughs reverberating through their chests as they collapsed into a large heap, arms still linked around each other despite their tipped over position. Tobio tightened his arms, burying his face into the warmth of the hug, fingers gripping tight. He didn’t let go.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And he never wanted to let go.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Kageyama, are you alright?” Daichi murmured in confusion, looking at him.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Y-Yeah, I’m fine,” Tobio managed.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“You’re… crying,” Sugawara spoke, words gentle.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>Oh.</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He could feel it now. The wet, salty tears were beginning to find their way through his face, streaking his pallid cheeks, tracing lines down them. Yet, as they did, Tobio didn’t feel it. Tobio didn’t feel the clenching of his heart, the tightening of his throat, the stabbing pain at his chest. He didn’t feel the desperation to wipe the tears away, or the stiffening of his fingers.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>All he felt was comfortable, comfortable warmth.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>He looked up at them, flashing them a smile. He smiled with upturned lips, the slightest hint of teeth, and crinkled eyes. </i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>And again, he found himself engulfed by warmth.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Hinata Shouyou hugged him, arms wrapped tightly around him, with a large, large smile on his face.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Happy graduation,” he murmured.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>Tears trailed his cheeks as he hugged the boy back, grip tight, desperate.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>“Happy graduation,” he whispered again, voice all affection and warmth.</i>
  </i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>
    <i>
      <i>”Happy graduation, Tobio.”</i>
    </i>
  </i>
</p>
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